Binding Agreement
by Laryna6
Summary: If Awakenings didn't exist, contracts would be the only way for a noble to lend a human the power to survive.
1. Chapter 1

_Awhile ago I mused in a post that Noblesse used Awakenings as other series might use Emergency Transformations. So, what if Awakenings_ weren't _an option in Noblesse, and they had to go with your standard Emergency Transformation instead? Or rather Emergency Contract, in Noblesse 'verse._

 _Is there such a thing as too many Flashback Era AUs? But there will also be present-day scenes._

* * *

Floating in the darkness, he heard a voice call his name.

"Frankenstein," it called. What followed was not an order, but a plea. "We may… we have entered a contract of the soul. Will you bear it for now?"

"Yes," he answered without sound or voice in the darkness, not truly understanding but hearing worry in that voice, and wanting to reassure him.

That moment lingered like a dream (was it a dream?) as he slowly woke up and opened his eyes to find Gejutel and Ragar standing in the room with him. "What happened?" he wondered, sitting up and turning towards them, rubbing his eyes. He still knew where they were without looking at them the same way he could sense the Central Order Knights that tried to hunt him down – he'd copied the noble ability they used to sense each other.

But there were three noble energies in the room: Gejutel's, Ragar's and Raizel's.

He might have turned to see if there was room between his bed and the wall for Raizel to stand, or if the noble was somehow injured enough to fall asleep – but why would they be placed in the same bed? – but no.

He sensed that noble energy emanating from beneath his own skin.

"You were consumed by your weapon," Ragar told him. "We thought that someone would be forced to destroy it before it could attack innocents."

"So he saved me," Frankenstein said, reaching fingers up to his neck. No marks, but he healed too quickly for that. And now he was a contractor.

A vampire.

What had changed besides the noble soul energy mixed with his soul? A thought, and he felt his teeth shift into a too-familiar shape. He wanted them back to normal, and thanked goodness when they obeyed. He couldn't help shuddering. Minor Shapeshifting power, check.

"Are you alright?" Ragar asked, concerned.

He took a deep breath and composed himself. "The Lord advised me to seek a contract with Cadis Etrama di Raizel. I was considering the matter when Urokai accosted me. It will take some getting used to, but I don't begrudge him saving me." A second time, he might have said, but now he knew that the Lord wouldn't have executed him on the say-so of some rumors. "Is he alright?"

Gejutel and Ragar both looked uncomfortable. "You did not harm him," Gejutel said.

So then Raizel must be upset, knowing what Frankenstein thought of the criminals and their contracts. He must be afraid that Frankenstein would think he'd taken advantage. That the only person who stayed by his side might hate him now. "I must go to him," he said, pushing himself up out of bed.

* * *

When he entered Raizel's room, he found the noble already settled with a pot of tea. Who had made it? It couldn't be Urokai, the tea actually smelled palatable… was there sugar already in the pot?

Raizel had paid attention when Frankenstein showed him how to make tea? He liked tea enough to stir himself from this room and actually do something? Had he missed the tea while Frankenstein was gone, or had he missed Frankenstein? Frankenstein tried to greet him normally, hoping that the familiarity would comfort the reclusive noble, reassure him that nothing had changed. No: this bond between them would change things, there was no way it could not. It didn't mean that Frankenstein hated him. That he feared him now, the way the clan leaders did.

He couldn't let the way he'd lost control of Dark Spear cause Raizel pain.

"I would like some tea," Raizel said, glancing at Frankenstein.

But Raizel had tea… Ah. Frankenstein relaxed a little, pouring Raizel's tea for him.

After Raizel drank, the noble hesitantly asked the question, "Can you still not control your weapon?" By now, Frankenstein knew Raizel's expressions enough to see the worry. Raizel looked very young right now.

Even though as he wanted to reassure Raizel, Frankenstein had to admit that he couldn't control Dark Spear.

As he waited, hoping that Raizel would become comfortable enough to address the subject of their contract his breath caught in his throat, watching the always-graceful noble lose his grip on fragile porcelain he always handled so carefully, knowing how easy it would be for his strength to reduce it to powder.

The teacup shattered.

Frankenstein's heart almost stopped when he saw blood on Raizel's lips. Impulse made him grab Raizel's shoulders, pull him up so Frankenstein could lick that blood away and swallow it. He didn't understand why his concern for his host made that seem so imperative until he felt his power flowing towards Raizel, trying to heal him. Ah! Yes, contractors could use noble powers, including the power to control others with blood. Tasting Raizel's blood would let his own healing powers act on the noble.

Strange that his first taste of blood as a vampire came not from hunger or rage but the need to help someone. Then again, perhaps it was not so strange at all, when that was the reason Raizel took his blood. Perhaps this was what contracts were meant to be.

Even as he thought this, his tongue reached through Raizel's lips, tasting his mouth and exploring it thoroughly, seeking to drink down every drop of blood. A contractor's purchased powers weren't as strong as the noble's, so he would need all the help he could get to heal Raizel.

The energies he sensed in Raizel also pulsed beneath his own skin now, and as he… As he _kissed_ the noble he felt his own energies reaching into Raizel's body, seeking out the injury. Curling protectively around the noble's energies. Around Raizel's soul.

What he sensed frightened him, and a soft sound of distress passed his lips, still pressed against Raizel's. This could not possibly be normal or healthy; he'd examined enough captive nobles to know that. Raizel was _sick_.

Raizel pressed against him for a moment, more a nudge with his lips than a motion to return the kiss. He tried to pull away a moment later, but Frankenstein wrapped his arms around him more securely, to support Raizel. With Frankenstein refusing to surrender his mouth, the noble spoke inside his mind. " _I am fine_ ," echoed in their new bond, but the emotion that came with it wasn't truth, just the need to reassure Frankenstein.

This noble had taken Frankenstein's blood. He could control him now, and yet he still tried to reassure him with words, still cared about his distress and wanted Frankenstein not to worry. Instead of compelling Frankenstein to serve him, he didn't want Frankenstein to trouble himself.

" _Don't worry,"_ he told Raizel. " _I will stay by your side until you are well. I will stay by your side eternally, if you will have me."_

" _This is simply a consequence of the use of my power."_ Raizel had to pause before continuing, trying to fight for enough composure to find words. The thought entered Frankenstein's mind shyly: _"If staying is your will, then this is your home too."_

Oh, oh yes, he thought. That was _Raizel,_ was his kindness and innate generosity. " _Yes, Master. It is my will_."

He felt the flicker of shock and concern, saw it in those warm red eyes.

For Raizel to take that as a sign to be concerned for him, instead of as his due?

" _Master of my soul. Master of my heart, oh_ my _Master."_ He let his eyes slip shut again, let himself truly _feel_ the soul that embraced his own, let himself shudder with the bliss of being held and known and _loved_. " _Yours. Yours until the world ends, and after."_

He felt his Master's blushing happiness, and had to open his eyes to see it, even though pulling back from the kiss meant he only heard those hums instead of feeling them. "Do you know the one thing I regret in all this?" he asked softly, feeling melted by the same onslaught of emotion that devastated his Master's elegance. "That I don't remember the moment your fangs slipped into my neck. The moment I became yours. Or perhaps… Perhaps my fate was sealed when you gave me sanctuary and I gave you my name in return. Perhaps that was the moment I gave myself to you." When he'd trusted Raizel enough to remain under a noble's roof, knowing the risk he was taking with his blood, his very soul.

If it was Raizel, when it was Raizel, would it be alright? He'd asked himself that returning from the Lord's castle, already knowing the answer.

"I will take care of you," he promised Master, gathering him to his chest. "I will stay by your side always."

Well. Not every second of every day. Right now he would reassure his master, but then he would settle him with hot tea and fresh cakes, and go interrogate the Lord. If the Lord didn't understand Master's condition, then no one would. Normally Frankenstein preferred to conduct his own investigations since he couldn't trust that what other people believed about a situation or phenomenon had any basis in fact whatsoever, but he would rather not experiment with his dear master's health in any way that could possibly be avoided.

He would need to study the changes in himself, but the first-generation contractors didn't have trouble controlling their powers or their bloodlust. As long as Raizel didn't compel him – and Master never would – this was not a betrayal of humanity. This wasn't… he hadn't sold his soul for power or survival. He'd been given a gift, so that he could live. Because someone wanted him to live, not because they wanted to own him.

His master wasn't in pain now, and Frankenstein wouldn't let him be. He would find a cure for this affliction, as he had so many others.

His Master would live, and Frankenstein would be by his side always.

…Oh? He felt Master's puzzlement now, after a decade trying to learn how to read him.

"I did not bite you," Master explained. "You were already wounded." Care, a flickering memory of concern – Frankenstein was hurt, and Raizel _did not like this_ , the same way Frankenstein didn't like mud tracked all over his lab. The back of his mind grabbing his attention, this was _not right_ , _fix it_.

A noble who couldn't bear to see him hurt?

He closed his eyes, pressed his cheek to the top of that black head. _Master_ , he thought, feeling himself purr with some strange, primal contentment. He knew he wasn't being made to feel this way – Raizel would never – so why did this bond feel so natural, so _right?_ He would have to ask the Previous Lord more about true contracts: if they were truly an ancient thing, then there might be memory, bred in the bone. The knowledge that this was a _wonderful_ thing. Like love.

No, it wasn't _like_ love. He _was_ loved.

Wrapped around his master, he felt like a cat curled up on someone's lap. Yes; if Raizel were to stroke a hand down his spine, it would be exactly like it.

His Master's hand reached around him, wanting to give him what he wanted, and oh, he wanted to stay here like this. Just like this. Careful fingers sliding down either side of his spine, reading his responses to apply just the perfect amount of pressure. Their souls entwined, in the sunlight pouring through the window.

He didn't move until the light coming in through that window dimmed to twilight. When he surfaced from that peaceful haze, he kissed his master's forehead. "Dinner will be ready soon."

As he closed the door to Raizel's room behind him, he chuckled to himself. How had he not realized something so transparently obvious even the Lord had seen it, well before setting eyes on him? He wasn't a servile person. He wouldn't have catered to Raizel out of mere obligation. He'd cared for this noble because he _wanted_ to. Because it made him happy. No, not 'this' noble. _His_ noble. His dear Raizel. And the contract… the contract did mean that Raizel was truly _his_ now.

Not a sale of souls, but a bond of them.

* * *

"Frankenstein," Master said when he returned with the food. Raiz – his Master was turned away from the window when Frankenstein entered, waiting for him facing the door.

"Yes?" he asked, placing the tray on the table and coming over to stand in front of his Master, head bowed.

"I have heard that it is your will to stay by my side, but we have also entered a contract of the soul. Do you consent?"

Frankenstein had absorbed his knowledge of Lukedonia's language from noble criminals: there was something in Master's phrasing that seemed antique, outdated even for nobles. Among humans, older words and languages were often used for law, medicine, ritual. Things where the precise meaning of words was too important to be wagered on the whims of the vernacular.

'Consent' was his mind's best equivalent of the world Raizel used: agreement? Binding agreement, freely given?

Of course he trusted Master, but it was because this was clearly so important to him that Frankenstein had to ask, "What am I consenting to?"

"To this," Raizel told him, raising his power around Frankenstein, reminding him that his soul was wrapped up in Master's. "With your soul bound to mine, and mine to yours. Are you willing to live like this?"

"Otherwise I would have died," Frankenstein reminded him, only to realize in an instant that he'd said the wrong thing when he sensed sadness, all around him. His Master's sadness: his own sadness he could bear, but his Master's _ached_ so, he would do anything to relieve that pain.

"The alternative is not death." Master shook his head. "Do you wish an end to our contract, or would you rather remain like this?"

"I want to remain like this," Frankenstein said, in an instant. "I know that I don't need a contract to remain here. I don't want a contract for the sake of power: if I need more power, I will gain it on my own. I want to stay like this because it's wonderful, Master. I wanted to stay with you, and this is more of you." He smiled. "Maybe it's greedy of me, but I want…" Everything I can get, he hesitated to say, in the face of Master's generosity.

"…It was greedy of me, to enter into a contract of the soul with you without your consent, but I did not want you to die. The thought that there might not be any more Frankenstein…" Raizel shook his head elegantly: an impossibility to find any adequate, noisy words.

Oh, he thought, looking at that face, a bubble of joy rising from the depths of his chest. He felt light. As though his soul shimmered even though he could see that Dark Soul had tarnished it every time he summoned his power.

He went down on one knee. "Sir Cadis Etrama di Raizel," he asked. "Will you do me the honor of entering into a contract of the soul with me?"

Silence, and he paled, suddenly terrified he'd done the wrong thing. He looked up, eyes wide with fear, to see Master's cheeks stained red with a maiden's blush. A small little sound came from his throat, the most exquisite being in existence reduced to making the most endearing little noises.

Frankenstein let out a sigh of relief. He bowed his head again to wait patiently, giving Master a chance to compose himself.

"I accept," he heard finally, and now he was the one to blush, staring upwards with an utterly moonstruck expression.

For him to belong to Master and Master to belong to him?

Oh.

Oh, yes. Always yes.


	2. Chapter 2

The noblesse touched M-21, his finger coming away with a drop of blood. M-21 watched the noblesse raise his slim finger to that mouth with a strange fascination that didn't leave any room in his head for thinking about _mind control_.

He knew what M-24 could do with blood, so what could a real noblesse do? But the noblesse had offered him power to fight the infected M-24 had left behind. M-21 had to be the one to clean up this mess.

The wounds the thing had left on him were pulling and stinging as they healed, but the sensation dimmed as his thoughts focused on the pale tongue that emerged from somehow perfect lips to lap at the drop of blood.

When that elegant tongue tasted his blood, that was when M-21 felt it. Not like M-24. M-24's attacks were a knife stabbing at him. This was something vast curling a hand around him. Lifting him up.

Something in him responded, half pulled forward by the noblesse's power and also… No, maybe more shocked awake.

But he refused to cower, not when the Infected was here, he thought, and whatever was inside him roused itself to _anger_.

* * *

"You offered him a contract, Master?"

Master shook his head. "The power within him would not let a contract of the soul form. To fight off the contract, it roused itself for a moment. Do not worry, Frankenstein."

Of course he worried, but he bowed, relieved that M-21's body and how the Union damaged it wouldn't be a constant drain on his master's life.

* * *

"Hey, you're late…" M-21 said, voice probably as fuzzy as his head. M-21 managed a smile. "I'm… so glad."

Ignoring the DA-5 agents, Cadis Etrama di Raizel knelt down next to Yuna and reached out a hand to the blood on M-21's cheek.

Oh, M-21 thought, remembering the injuries the Infected gave him and how quickly he'd healed.

He was going to live. His eyes closed with relief when he felt Raizel lay his hand over Yuna's, reassuring her, and withdraw the hand. M-21 was almost too tired to open his eyes again to see Raizel delicately lick his finger, but he still felt it, the surge of Raizel's power through him. Warm and red and soft somehow, like rose petals, or feathers. _Dangerous_ , because anything so strong was dangerous, but not terrifying.

Maybe it was because he was coming to trust those two nobles, the way he trusted Raizel to save the kids. Or maybe it was just because Raizel was like that, under the façade of a silent noble who ordered his servant to produce ramyeon.

* * *

"Munch munch, like kimchi!"

"No, Rai didn't bite Ajussi!" Yuna reminded them. "He just…" she looked at Raizel, embarrassed.

The vampire (noble?) didn't look at her, just drank his tea. Acting like he wasn't in the same room with the rest of them, like their conversation had nothing to do with him. Like he hadn't heard that, because otherwise… wouldn't it hurt to hear his friends talk about him like that?

"Guys, stop saying things like that," Yuna said. "I'm sorry Rai, I didn't mean to upset you. We're all grateful you saved everyone."

He looked up at her seriously. "It was not done so that you would feel grateful. You did not have to beg me, Yuna. Not for anything. If there is something I can do for you, then I will."

"Because you're our friend," Yuna said, wondering why he hadn't completed the thought. She could see the relief in his expression: had he not wanted to _presume?_ "You know that you're our friend, right? If you're something like a vampire, that doesn't change anything."

Was there just the tiniest blush in Rai's cheeks?

* * *

Frankenstein's worst fears were confirmed when he saw his Master bleeding from the mouth after sentencing the Twelfth Elder. "Master…"

"There is no need to make a scene," Raizel said, facing away from the children and the KSA agents.

Frankenstein hesitated. He wanted to take that blood and see what he could do for Master, but they had an audience. Not only their houseguests, but Master was currently a student at his school. It would be _beyond_ inappropriate for the principal to kiss a student, even if there was nothing of desire about it. How could he _want_ to see blood on Master's lips? But he was the chairman of Ye Ran High School, and the two agents who had posed as teachers were here, so no, he shouldn't make a scene.

…Not that he cared about their opinion of his professional ethics (after ordering one of their students beaten up!) when Master was ill, but it would shock the children. They'd know that death and destruction weren't going to put either him or his master in the mood for games. They'd wonder _why_ he'd kissed Master.

Master's hand had already wiped the blood away from his lips, and good. Neither of them wanted the children to know.

But in the end he had to explain it to them regardless. He couldn't leave them thinking that Master didn't want them here, that Master had told them to leave because he didn't think they were good enough to be worth the burden of protecting them. Not when Master loved them so.

* * *

"Are you saying there's nothing we can do but watch them die?" Regis asked, eyes wide with horror, and Frankenstein couldn't let this child lose Tao and Takeo, but…

The door opened behind them. "There is no need," Master said.

Master only had one way to enhance Tao and Takeo's healing. "Master, you're not…"

"I will contract with them," Raizel said, and though he walked with such confidence someone else might have thought him well, Frankenstein could see that his eyes were unfocused.

Regis, M-21 and Seira stared at him in shock.

"Contract with both of them?" Frankenstein asked. "Establishing the contract takes power, and you will have to provide all of it, with Tao and Takeo this weak. If you lend them your ability to heal, when your own body is in this condition?" He shook his head. "You've used up too much power, Master. You can't contract with them, not in this condition." Even if Raizel survived it, Tao and Takeo were still weak enough that they wouldn't be able to keep themselves from drawing on Raizel's power in combat, not without special training. That constant drain on Master's strength would make it impossible to stabilize his condition.

"I can't just watch them die," Raizel said.

There was nothing that Frankenstein could say to that. No, Raizel couldn't. His master was too kind and compassionate and this was the very reason Frankenstein had wished to contract with him.

When he could not protest, Raizel went on. "They may not gain much power, but it will help their wounds heal." Raizel didn't have much power left to give them, but he still had to do everything he could for them.

"…Master," was all Frankenstein could say sadly, his eyes downcast. He couldn't let Tao and Takeo die either, but with Dark Spear bound to his soul, he couldn't use the power of contracts he'd gained through his bond with Master to take on this burden himself. If Dark Spear attacked Tao and Takeo through a bond when they were this weak, it would consume their souls.

Master smiled, and nodded, eyes still just slightly unfocused.

Frankenstein _loved_ Cadis Etrama di Raizel, and that was why he longed to stop him… but it was because he loved him that he couldn't force his master to watch two children he loved die when he could have saved them.

"We don't care," Tao said, and tried to laugh. His voice, normally full of life, was so weak. "Can't we just die?"

"We don't care if we die like this," Takeo agreed, smiling.

"You guys…" M-21's mouth worked, eyes full of horror and desperation. He must have wanted to bare his teeth at them, yell at them for not struggling to live, but he couldn't.

Frankenstein knew how they felt. He didn't want to live at Master's expense either, but their contract was the reason he was alive, so all he could do was try to give Master more life than he had taken from him.

He watched M-21 turn away as Tao spoke of how happy they were living here, how they weren't afraid of dying for the chance to live in this place, in the life Master wished to give them.

"I won't let that happen," said Cadis Etrama di Raizel, so tired his words lacked the elegance and focus of his commands as Noblesse. He barely had the strength to impose his will on the world anymore, but he simply could not let them die. "I have taken you two in. It is my duty to protect all of you."

Frankenstein winced, because that wasn't what Master meant. He didn't want Tao and Takeo to think that Master only died for them out of _duty_.

"And I too… had a lot of fun."

These children had made Master so happy… Yes, they deserved to know that.

"Please," Master said, bowing his head before two humans without shame. "I cannot watch you die because I did nothing. The contract cannot be forged without your consent. Please, let me do this for you. Saving your lives is well worth my life."

"Wait!" pleaded Regis. "I'm a noble, I can make the contract!"

"They are my responsibility," Master told him.

"They're my comrades who fought beside me, it is also my responsibility to keep them alive!" Regis insisted, and Frankenstein had never been so happy to see a Landegre's stubbornness.

"You have not reached your age of majority," Raizel told him. "Sustaining multiple contracts might be too much for you." If Regis lost control of his power, it would swamp a human mind, especially a human mind with a fragile ego. When the Union smashed the selfhood of their experiments, Tao and Takeo were still terribly vulnerable to the risks of having a noble's power present in their body and soul.

"I am responsible for this child," Seira said, stepping forward. "As the adult supervision, any matters he cannot handle because of his age fall to me."

"A contract of the soul is a great responsibility." Raizel looked down at Tao and Takeo. "It will be better if I do it because I will go into eternal sleep before long, instead of intruding on their souls for the rest of their lives."

"We don't mind!" Tao said, and Frankenstein winced to see the effort it cost him to keep a smile on his face. "It's much better than dying, or having to watch everyone die! I call dibs on Miss Seira! Or actually it'd work out better if I contract with Regis… Miss Seira and Takeo both have long hair, right?" His laugh turned into a cough, and Frankenstein was at his side instantly,

"A contract is not a laughing matter," he said sadly. "If you cannot bear it, you will have to leave this place." Get out of range. "There's Master's mansion on Lukedonia, but…" Regis and Seira would have to return to Lukedonia if something happened to this place, and then where would these two children find safe haven, with the Union looking for them? "Something might go wrong with the contract…"

"It's worth a shot, right?" Tao said.

Takeo could barely keep his eyes open, but he smiled faintly. "I'd much rather risk dying than definitely have to watch someone die… Someone we all want to protect."

Frankenstein looked around the ruined lab at the children's faces, and now he was the one who had to turn away. He'd seen in Tao's eyes that he was _hoping_ that if the contract went wrong it would push him over the edge, so Master didn't have to save him.

If it was Master's sacrifice he would have _had_ to watch, to keep Master's memory alive, but for children to be forced to sell their souls into bondage because he hadn't had had a back-up lab ready? But he couldn't try to talk them out of it, tell them just how wrong contracts could be, while their lives trickled away like sands in the hourglass.

His lab destroyed like so many before it, and yet the damn automatic door still worked, closing behind him as he left. Fled.

* * *

There wasn't any time to go after Frankenstein; they had to act quickly in order to save Tao and Takeo.

"Do we have to bite them on the neck?" Regis asked, standing next to Tao, as Seira had moved next to where Takeo lay. "They're already injured."

The Noblesse shook his head. "Blood is only a medium. A true contract is created when both souls desire it." He reached down to touch Tao's cheek, picking up a drop of drying blood with his finger. "This, and the will to form a contract, are enough."

He kept that drop on his finger as he watched Regis and Seira pick up drops themselves. That meant that if they failed, he was standing ready to take up the burden. Regis wasn't going to fail, not when M-21 was watching him, hope warring with fear and guilt in his eyes. It was stupid of him to feel guilty, but this wasn't the time to force him to recognize that. M-21 shouldn't have to lose any more comrades.

When Regis tasted the blood, he blinked. He knew how to use mind control on opponents, but was it really _this_ easy with their blood? It let nobles just ignore all the barriers of a human's will like this, because their blood and body were the foundation of that will?

No wonder it was forbidden to take humans' blood!

"Meet their eyes and speak their names," Raizel said calmly, looking from Seira to Regis.

"Tao," Regis said, obeying the order. Yes, _Tao,_ he reminded himself. Not 'a human,' but the one who conscripted him into Sir Raizel's knights, both honor and embarrassment. Not an animal he could control so easily, but a human so difficult Regis wasn't even going to try to keep him under control.

Oh Lord, was Regis going to be responsible for Tao's behavior after this?! Was it too late to trade with Seira? But no, if this made Tao's behavior reflect on their clans, then Seira was the only one upholding the honor and reputation of the Loyard! He had Grandpa – Clan Leader to help, so Seira should have Takeo. Takeo was much more elegant.

…But this was violating one of the orders of the Lord. Even if the Noblesse allowed them to do this, they still had to submit to the Lord's authority. But Regis was willing to bring dishonor on himself to save a comrade and he wasn't going to question Seira's decision to do the same.

"We have entered into a contract of the soul," said the Noblesse.

"We have entered into a contract of the soul," Regis heard Seira repeat along with him.

A few seconds ticked by, leaving Regis and Tao to look into each other's eyes awkwardly. Was something supposed to be happening right now? Were they doing it wrong? Tao didn't know any more than Regis did, but Tao didn't break the silence to say that Regis was a noble, right?

That didn't mean he knew everything, that was Tao.

It was a relief to hear Cadis Etrama di Raizel's voice again. "Do you consent?"

Regis drew himself up. "Do you consent?" he asked Tao, trying to make Tao be serious for once, give him a serious answer, because this was important. Tao was dying and they were talking about Tao's soul: this was no time to be fooling around.

Tao's eyebrows went up. "Yeah, of course." Wasn't that the entire point of this?

Regis grumbled. "Do you consent?" he asked again.

There was a flash of light on the table next to them as Takeo transformed. Tao's smile froze on his face. "I have to open up, don't I." Oh no. "I don't know how."

"That's not a problem," Regis said impatiently. "I can get past your mental barriers." That was almost the problem. It would be _so easy_ , and he couldn't intrude on Tao like that without permission!

He _really_ hoped that the contract would give Tao the ability to defend his mind against someone who had tasted his blood, because he really didn't want it to keep being this easy to mind control Tao.

Tao tilted his head to the side in comedic incomprehension. "Then why haven't you…" He coughed, and now there was more blood on his lips and _Tao was so fragile_ and it would be _so easy_ to shove power into him and have Regis be the one using that power on Tao, controlling Tao's body.

"I'm not going to do it without your consent!" Regis said, deeply offended.

"I said…" Tao sucked in a breath. "I said yeah."

Regis reached through, or around Tao's mental barriers, through the connection of Tao's blood. Tao blinked, and thank goodness, he was worried the human wouldn't be able to feel it even like that. "Do you consent?" he repeated himself, frowning at Tao with a serious expression. Would he understand now that this wasn't something to joke about, to treat like an 'of course,' like his consent was an empty formality?

"…Yeah," Tao said, and smiled, eyes soft. It felt like his palm smacked into Regis', as their hands clasped. Regis was the first to shove power through the connection, because Tao needed to hurry up and heal, but once Tao transformed he started pulling on the connection and Regis let out a sigh of relief.

He let himself lean against the table. No, there was no way they could have let the Noblesse take on this burden when it was so tiring. Glancing across at Seira, she didn't look tired, but she was an adult and a clan leader.

The Noblesse! Even if he didn't need to make contracts now he had still fought; was he alright? Regis looked up to find that Cadis Etrama di Raizel wasn't… wasn't quite looking at any of them. Perhaps he was focused on using his powers as the Noblesse to sense if they were all right? Sir Karias was also able to see the unseen.

"We will be fine," Regis said. "Right, Seira?"

Seira nodded, and Regis saw a small bit of happiness in the Noblesse's eyes, a trace of relief before he turned to the side.

"I must go to Frankenstein," he said, eyes still distant. "He worries me."


	3. Chapter 3

When he came back to himself, he had collapsed on the couch in the main room, the way he had when he saw the damage to the school from the KSA picking a fight with M-21.

This was worse.

Because Frankenstein didn't take precautions, because of his hubris, his master nearly died and two children – _four_ children – had to risk their souls.

Tao and Takeo's initial refusal to make a contract… He should have stood between them and his master out of principle even if he couldn't have stopped the Noblesse, but they were _children_ and even if that made touching their souls against their wills even worse, they were _children_ and shouldn't have to die because of his failure.

The way so many others were dying every day, not living long enough to become adults by Lukedonia's standards, because he had failed to hunt down and kill the Union's sponsors and get his knowledge out there. Eight hundred and twenty years and so little to show for it: should he have discarded the seal, used that time to hunt the Union in secrecy so his master wouldn't have to fight like this once awakened? But there were reasons that would have ended in failure, doomed humanity to continue to leave such short, defenseless lives, and…

Familiar footsteps walking into the living room, coming to stand behind him.

He didn't raise his head from where his face rested in his hands.

Would his master have taken Tao and Takeo's blood and used it even if they did not consent to a contract? Would Frankenstein have let him?

No, and no. He knew that. They never would, not even if it meant they would die. They both respected humans', people's wills. And yet…

He…

They were _children_ , they shouldn't have had to prostitute their souls in order to survive. But they shouldn't _die_ helplessly.

That was what had gotten to him like this, wasn't it? The knowledge that for those two to refuse a contract, and the nobles in this house to respect that meant those children were choosing death.

They really could have died. Like so many others, but…

His master's hand touched his shoulder gently, in sympathy.

Even the Noblesse sometimes felt powerless. Frankenstein swallowed. "We knew when we allowed them to stay here… They knew when they insisted on staying that we could not protect them. We have not failed them yet… And yet I feel like I've failed at everything."

His master was dying; his failure was the reason the Union existed to orphan two of the children under their roof and torture the other three in the first place.

"I have always appreciated everything you have done for me… and so do they," his master said, and kept patting Frankenstein's shoulder, determined to do all he could, even if that was the only thing he could do.

A human and the Noblesse, united in their powerlessness.

His master paused, then withdrew his hand. "I would not treat their wills like they did not matter," Raizel said, hurt.

Frankenstein bowed his head and shook it. "That's… that's not it, Master. What frightens me is that…" He had to pause, swallow, "I think part of me would have wanted you to, if it came to that." How could he? Something so vile!

"Part of you," his Master agreed calmly, and Frankenstein flinched to hear those fears confirmed. "Part of you wishes you could ensure their survival no matter the cost," his Master repeated, and patted him on the shoulder again. "It is not wrong to want those children to live, Frankenstein."

No. But was it wrong that there were things he would not do to save them? That if they had refused the contract, and Master tried to create one anyway, he would have stood between them and Master _to ensure their deaths_? He was responsible for them, he should find some way, any way, to keep them alive, but… What if next time there was no way to save them, because once again he made a mistake? Would he have to stand by and watch them die?

An unwilling contract was a price that shouldn't be paid for survival, but there were also prices that _couldn't_ be paid.

He'd already known that he might not be able to save them, but he hadn't been prepared for the reminder to come in a form like this.

"I knew it was not right of me to make our contract," Master said, sighing. "You could not wake; your soul was willing to cleave to mine, but I did not have the consent of your waking mind. I knew that I could return your soul to you if you did not wish to remain bonded to me," all Master had to do was die. "Yet that would not be enough to ease your soul if you had woken to find yourself violated. I gambled with your soul and sanity because I could not bear to watch you die. I am glad you are alive, but I do not think I could bear to do it again."

If Master was sent back in time to that moment, would he be able to step forward, to bind the delirious, tortured soul within Dark Spear now that he knew what he was gambling with?

Death was such a small thing in comparison to _this_ that the fact that either of them would die happily for the sake of the other soul bound to their own hardly warranted mentioning. His soul and this contract were far more precious to Frankenstein than his own life; knowing that, could Raizel truly risk inflicting a perverted contract on Frankenstein and tormenting the soul he found so bright and beautiful?

The fate of the world already hung on the outcome of their war with the Union, but tonight the lives and souls of those children had hung in the balance. Frankenstein chuckled. "You'd think I'd be used to this by now, really." Mutants were the first enemies he'd faced, the question of whether or not they could risk allowing the injured to live…

His Master's hand descended to touch him again, a reminder that he was there. 'What matters is that we are together again,' he'd said.

Master was alive and the children were alive. For now.

He placed his fingers gently on the top of Master's hand, holding it in place. Trying to cling to him and to that fact, as the memories tried to take hold of him.

* * *

"We should put them to bed," Seira said, looking around the ruined lab with disapproval that M-21 couldn't _not_ take personally as she picked up Takeo.

"I'll take Tao," M-21 said, scooping him up before Regis could object. "Otherwise his feet would scrape on the stairs," he said quickly before Regis could demand if M-21 was doing this because he felt guilty and try to convince him that he shouldn't.

Regis was too tired and worried to bite. The noble stayed quiet, following M-21 up the stairs.

Seira led them not to Takeo's room, but the recovery room. M-21 put Tao down on the other bed in the room and went right back out the door.

Seira carefully closed the door and turned off the light, and M-21 opened it and turned the light back on as soon as he found a chair to sit in and carried it up to the room. He wondered why he was the one sitting here, not Seira and Regis, but maybe the contracts would tell them if Tao and Takeo weren't okay? He was the one who wouldn't know anything unless he kept an eye on them in person.

He was the one who had to know they were okay.

* * *

Takeo was the first to wake up. "Are you okay?" M-21 asked, nervous, watching Takeo sit up. There was something strange about how he moved, oddly deliberate about it.

The sniper smiled at him, the cheerful smile he had when he was talking to the kids, pretending to be a normal person with no darkness behind his eyes.

M-21 glared at him for that. He'd had too many determined false smiles from members of the M-series. Dying members. He wanted the truth, he had to know how his comrade was doing.

"I am fine, M-21. Really," Takeo said, and when he dropped the mask it wasn't darkness M-21 saw in his eyes but distance. He looked almost soft, but Takeo looked like that… when he could, M-21 knew. Takeo wanted to cultivate inner peace and stuff like that. "I do feel different," he said, examining his hands, turning them over slowly. "Light, somehow. My body feels stronger, I'll have to be careful moving until I'm sure just how it's changed." He looked across at Tao.

It was weird to see Tao not stirring at all. "I'll get Frankenstein," M-21 said, standing up.

When he got to the elevator he found a new button inside it. When he pressed it, the doors opened onto another lab. It really must be only another floor down, the trip barely took any longer than it did before. "What is it?" Frankenstein said, doing something to one of the tanks.

"Takeo's awake, but Tao isn't."

"Lower body mass: he likely got a higher mg/kg of the drug, so it was able to do more damage before the contract gave them the ability to purify their bodies. And Regis is not a clan leader." Frankenstein looked hesitant, but frowned, pulling himself together. "I need to get this lab up and running," he said quickly. " _Especially_ if you're worried about Tao's condition. Check with Regis if you're concerned, but I can sense that the contracts were successful and Tao and Takeo are drawing on more than enough power to ensure their recoveries."

"You can sense that?" M-21 asked, frowning.

"Master," Frankenstein said, pointing at the ceiling above them. "Miss Seira," he said, moving his finger to point somewhere else. "Regis," and finally, "Tao and Takeo. Nobles can sense the energies of other nobles, and that's one of the abilities I have. A contractor has that noble's energies within them, so they can also be sensed."

"I need to tell Tao that." For RK's tactics. If before Regis was the only one a noble enemy might sense, and now it was all of them but M-21?

"He'll notice," Frankenstein told him. "I'm sure he'll draw on all the perception-enhancing abilities he can. I wouldn't be surprised if his eyes have already shifted: I've enhanced his depth perception, but the noble eye structure is very efficient. One of the earlier enhancements I gave myself, in fact."

M-21 had noticed it. Nobles had a slit pupil like a cat's, inside an arch. It kind of looked like a cat's iris and pupil inside a human's iris and pupil. It was one of the reasons he'd thought Frankenstein was a noble, but it was that way even before the contract?

Frankenstein was looking at him for the first time in this conversation, waiting for a response.

M-21 blinked at him, because what did he know about vision enhancements? Tao was the one who read all the stuff Frankenstein left for them on their modifications.

Frankenstein turned back to his work, shaking his head. "I don't know why it's affecting me like this."

The sort-of-werewolf snorted. "Your lab was destroyed," M-21 said. "You think we haven't noticed how that kind of thing messes you up?"

That made the principal chuckle. "True," he admitted. "My contract was formed under worse conditions. Tao and Takeo at least knew what was happening when they consented. I simply… I wanted better for all of you."

There was a kind of distant sadness in his eyes: was he blaming himself? "This is my fault, not yours," M-21 said.

That got him another chuckle. "This is my house, and Master has taken responsibility for your protection. Everything that happens to you, especially under this roof, is our responsibility." He closed a panel and wiped nonexistent dust from his hands. "And I should stop running away from my responsibilities and contact Gejutel, so Lukedonia holds me accountable for this instead of Miss Seira and Regis."

Crap. "How much trouble are they in?" M-21 asked, lips pulled back from his teeth, but he was angry at himself, not Lukedonia for blaming those two for doing what they had to do to save Tao and Takeo's lives.

"Forced eternal sleep was the punishment in my day," Frankenstein said bluntly. "And no, that's not an overreaction. My contract with Master is consensual, and the Twelfth Elder's seems to have been a professionally conducted business transaction, at least. But most of the contracts I've seen…" His eyes narrowed. "It won't be like that for Tao and Takeo," he promised M-21. Or both of them, laying in the wreckage of M-21's mistake.

* * *

"I'm stronger and faster," Takeo said, clearing his throat and staring above Tao's head as he made his report. "I can draw on Miss Seira's power to transform, although it's easier if she's in range."

"We'll have to find out what your range is," Tao said, typing. "And my range, but Regis is part of RK-04, so if I'm fighting he should be right there."

"Yes, so will you let me down?" Regis said, staring at Tao. Regis just couldn't seem to believe that Tao had wrapped his cables around the pureblood noble and was holding him in midair.

M-21 couldn't really believe it either, but the instant Regis was willing to admit to himself that yes, this was really happening and he should do something about this inelegance then… Well, then Regis would have to do something, and they were contracted now. If Regis and Tao had to fight, with mind control and everything else that couldn't be good. "Put him down, Tao," M-21 said, narrowing his eyes at the hacker.

They were comrades, so it was better if M-21 fought Tao than if Regis had to fight one of them.

Tao grinned at him, sharp and manic. "But he's mine!"

Oh crap that wasn't good, M-21 thought.

"No," Takeo said, eyes narrowing. "I don't know what your terms are, but no."

"Of course I didn't agree to that!" Regis said, offended. "I'm a clan heir, I can't swear loyalty to anyone but the Lord!"

M-21 saw the light of calculation in Tao's eyes and, and _seriously?_ He wasn't thinking of fighting the _Lord_ over Regis, was he?

Why would Takeo let out a sigh of relief after seeing _this_? Did he know something about how Tao's mind worked that M-21 didn't? M-21 got his explanation when the door to the training room slid open to admit Seira. Had Takeo called her for backup?

"Put Regis down," Seira said patiently. She didn't seem fazed by this level of nonsense, but then Regis was normally Karias' student, so Seira had probably seen some shenanigans over the decades.

"He won't let me wrap him up in my soul, so I'm going to keep him like this," Tao said. M-21 didn't get it, but it seemed enough of an explanation to make Takeo pale and Regis look even more flustered.

Seira hesitated, but gave in, sighing. "The bond between the Noblesse and our teacher is not healthy, Tao. You know this."

Now the hacker was looking like someone had told him Santa Claus wasn't real. "But…"

"It is necessary for them." Seira nodded. "But Regis' soul is not dying. I do not know why the Noblesse has permitted their souls to become so merged, but I suspect it is Dark Spear that makes it necessary for Frankenstein. It is not their contract you envy, Tao."

"…It's why they're willing to be like that," Tao admitted, and hung his head. "I want someone who would go that far to save me, but that's just unfair. Regis already gave up part of his soul to save me, you know? I should trust him, after that. I know that he'll back me up if I need it. He's too stubborn not to, after he promised, right?"

Seira walked forward, in among the waving cables, and patted Tao on the head as he sat there, eyes hidden under the bowl cut.

"Of course I would!" Regis finally managed to say, and he sounded _hurt_.

"Landegre are very stubborn," Seira said, still patting Tao on the head. "A true contract happens when both souls desire it: your soul desires a closer link, while Regis' soul has stood its ground, insisting this far and no further. You do not have very many memories, Tao. You are both children, but the more your souls merge, the more you will become like Regis. Regis promised to protect you. That is why he cannot let you do as you wish."

"How did you learn all that about contracts?" Tao asked, curiosity overriding their tactician's misery.

"I asked my teacher," Seira said.

"Right, he won't mind me asking questions. I think he likes it when people ask questions?"

Seira nodded.

Tao finally put down Regis before anybody got scythed. Then he tackled him again. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to insult your honor like that!"

"It's fine?" Regis patted Tao on the back with a determined expression on his face, although M-21 saw him frowning when Tao let go. "I always had Grandpa, and Seira. You're a member of the clan now, so…"

"I'm a member of the clan?" Tao interrupted him. "Does that mean Gramps is my Gramps? And do I get a last name?"

Regis eyes' widened for a moment, poor kid probably praying for previous generations of Landegre to forgive him, before he pulled himself together into the adorably haughty little noble M-21 knew and nodded a firm yes. "I'm sure that the clan leader will recognize you as Tao of Clan Landegre."

Tao picked him up and whirled him around in the air out of joy. From the expression on Regis' face, he knew he should have expected that to happen.


	4. Chapter 4

_Oh, I'm excluding the 'You are hereby bound to me by blood,' line from the contract script Rai gave the kids, because I think that was something Rai put in as, hmm. Part a 'are you sure you want to do this given your issues with it,' and 'you put your blood in my tea/that has consequences/this is serious.' Frankenstein knows what a big deal this is, is he_ really _willing to do this (to be with Rai)?_

 _And then Regis ended up having to go 'This is serious' with Tao, but that because while Takeo proved his consent by relaxing his mental barriers, showing that he was willing to have Seira do whatever, Tao's defenses were still very much up and Regis didn't want to smash through them or treat them like they were nothing. 'You're not acting like this is okay, are you sure it's really okay?'_

 _Also, the 'bound by blood' line would have made M-21 feel worse, because are his friends enslaved now because he screwed up? And the people involved didn't have Frankenstein's experience with the criminal/slave contracts, so it would seem more like a random vampire mythos reference instead of a very specific 'this is what you're risking.'_

 _I had to rip out most of the original draft of this chapter – yay for editing. I have a couple Bonded chapters drafted, but it looks like I need to write another chapter that goes before them before I can post them. Ah, writing._

* * *

"What were you thinking, taking that poison?" Rael demanded, throwing up his hands as he paced in front of the glass separating them from the humans Seira cared about. "That was idiotic even for you, Regis!"

"I know!" Tao agreed, spinning his chair around where he sat by the test analyzing computer. "You should have beaten the bad guys quickly and brought the kids back here for treatment, but no one listens to the strategist!"

"We should have known that their antidote wasn't worth the trouble." M-21 grimaced. "It's the Union; they don't care about people surviving what they do to them."

"I went to all that trouble…" Rael froze when he heard what Tao was saying.

"Rael went to all that trouble…" Tao blinked when he saw that Rael was staring at him.

Rael blushed when he realized everyone was looking at him. "What are you doing standing around like that? Think of something! If they die and Seira is unhappy because of your idiocy, I'll kill all of you! Especially you, Regis!" Not that he wasn't going to do that anyway. The fact that one of the enhanced human filth felt like Miss Seira! And this Tao felt like Regis! It was disgusting. "How could you do that to yourself?" he demanded of Regis. "And letting Miss Seira give part of her soul to a disgusting enhanced human…" Rael's eyes widened as he looked at Takeo, and he was mortified to realize that the blush on his cheeks was deepening.

Tao waved frantically. "You might not want to do that, Miss Seira might find out about anything you say to Takeo!"

"Shut up," Rael said, pointing at him, tearing his eyes away from Takeo almost with relief. It wasn't his fault, the human felt like Miss Seira! "You feel like Regis and it's pissing me off. I can't kill you now, not when those humans are still dying." After he even carried them here!

Tao turned the chair around and went back to the screen. "I should have studied more about poisons, but I didn't because the contracts should have taken care of the Union's poisons – how did they get something that even worked on nobles? – and I had so many things to study. I can detoxify them, but I really don't want to experiment with antidotes without the Boss here to check my work…"

* * *

Raizel stood in front of the window looking into the isolation room where the children were hooked up to machines. M-21 glanced over at him. He seemed okay, but how would M-21 know? M-21 turned back to look at the console where Tao and Frankenstein were working, not wanting to intrude on the Noblesse's worry for his friends.

"I've been keeping them stable," Tao told Frankenstein, "but I wouldn't even have been able to do that if Rael hadn't brought them here! Even Takeo would have been too slow after he took that poison."

Frankenstein stared at the readouts, ignoring Tao's chatter. It didn't look good. "A poison that worked on two modified humans with true contracts and a pureblood noble? Of course a conventional antidote wouldn't cure it – there's no conventional poison that _could_ do that. That Union agent came prepared. These were Crombel's enhanced humans?"

"You think it's because of the stolen data that they had something that could work on nobles?" M-21 asked.

Behind Frankenstein, Tao's eyes widened, looking down at the scientist's feet, and M-21 followed his gaze and _stared_. Blood dripping in the floor in Frankenstein's lab, and he didn't even seem to notice or care?

This was bad, whatever happened to the others fighting out there was _beyond_ bad, and now Frankenstein had four more people to worry about because M-21 hadn't managed to protect the kids.

"No," Frankenstein said. "The data I left you three was for you and your enhancements. I wasn't planning to give you noble-based poison abilities, not when I need to stabilize you." There was a risk something could go wrong and end up with them poisoning themselves. "The head of clan Tradio is one of the traitors, so of course I've been researching how to counter the powers of that clan, but all of those simulations were encrypted. If Crombel had broken into any of the encrypted data he stole from my lab, we would know." He shook his head. "I can't imagine Lagus letting an enhanced human have clan abilities, but I couldn't imagine Roctis making even a bastardized contract either. Perhaps he was experimenting with strengthening his abilities and Crombel stole the data. Or they captured a member of Clan Tradio."

Maybe with Lagus' help: one of the bastards who betrayed _Raizel_ might not hesitate to send a member of his own family into the Union's claws.

"Regardless of the source, I'm afraid I can't think of any alternatives to…" Frankenstein turned to Rajak. "Since you and your brother are mostly recovered, would you mind leaving the lab?" To get out of the way. "Since you came to our assistance, it's the least I can do to invite you to remain here as guests for as long as you stay in South Korea."

"Thank you," Rajak said, bowing. He walked towards the elevator, then paused. After a moment he turned, clearly waiting for Rael to join him.

Rael glanced at Seira, but saw that everyone was clearly waiting for him to leave, so he hurried to his brother's side.

"I will unseal their memories and wake them up," Frankenstein said. "After that, what happens is their decision. And yours," he added, looking at Regis and Seira. "You should not feel obligated to enter into another contract."

"I will do this of my own will," Seira said firmly, earning her the ghost of a smile.

Most of them went into the room with the children, but Frankenstein left Tao to watch the computer in the main room and wake them up. It didn't escape Takeo's notice that the most persuasive person was being locked out of things.

Frankenstein wasn't helping Tao wake them up: hewanted to unseal their memories first. It wasn't as though sealing them had given them any protection against the Union, Takeo thought, and for a moment he hated himself for the time he'd brought danger upon them until he felt Miss Seira clearing her mental throat.

He turned to smile at her, which she ignored as noble-speak (to use Tao's phrase) for 'think nothing of it.'

Normally she didn't register his emotions, but he was standing right next to her and he'd sensed her concern, coming home to find that he'd been poisoned while she was out fighting Union Elders.

Takeo Loyard: he had liked the sound of that from the beginning. He had an older sister now instead of a younger one, but Seira had practice with little brothers.

It was stranger that Tao was Tao Landegre, that they didn't have the same family name after being in the same experiment batch 'team' and telling the kids that they were cousins, but Seira and Regis were basically siblings, so Tao and Takeo were just… unofficially related in another way now.

"Shinwoo and Yuna?" he asked her. Shinwoo was the one who saved his wallet from those street thugs, and he'd treated him and Yuna to coffee afterwards.

Seira nodded, frowning slightly in Suyi's direction. She should be able to handle any number of contractors since she was a clan leader: Takeo didn't need very much of her soul. The problem was that although she'd healed over her injuries, Takeo could sense that she still needed time to recover.

"I need to focus, so if you're going to talk, please do it in the other room," Frankenstein said, cupping his palms in front of him. "I'm going to try to give them some energy to supplement their natural healing abilities so I can take them off the ventilators."

Yes, they would need to ask questions, and that would be easier if they could talk.

Seira blinked at the Chairman.

"I haven't done it before because I need to filter Dark Spear out of it," he told her with a rueful smile as violet darkness covered his hands. "They'll try to seize this chance to jump to more vulnerable hosts." He sighed. "If it weren't for that crazy thing, I'd be able to give them more than enough baseline-human-compatible healing energy. I don't know if I'll be able to purify enough to make a difference in time," he said, worried, and then jerked his head up.

Takeo didn't have to ask what was wrong. Not when he saw the blood field go up, the room now coated in swirling, glowing red darkness.

Frankenstein looked at Raizel, who didn't react. Raizel's face was set: the Noblesse wasn't going to budge on helping his friends like this. After a moment, Frankenstein bowed his head and said, "Thank you Master; that will make this easier."

He closed his eyes, and a second later pulled his hands apart. They were still covered in purple, but electric blue energy came out of them, gathering into a ball held between his hands that Frankenstein watched intently with narrow, suspicious eyes as he held it over Shinwoo's chest.

It was when he stepped over to the next bed that Takeo noticed Frankenstein's blood was still dripping on the floor. He opened his mouth to ask if Frankenstein was alright, before he remembered Frankenstein needed to focus. And 'was he alright?' Takeo grimaced, wishing that wasn't such a stupid question. Blood dripping on the floor of a clean room? If the students contracted, then they wouldn't need to worry about ordinary germs much longer.

…What about their ordinary lives?

Takeo bowed his head, because there was nothing that could be done about that.

Shinwoo was the first to start stirring; Takeo was sure he would have been even if Frankenstein hadn't given him the energy first. He recovered fast. Hopefully he would this time, too. He let out a soft groan. "Ow…"

"I'm sorry," Frankenstein said. "We couldn't give you painkillers with that poison in your system." He touched the tips of his fingers to Shinwoo's forehead.

"Huh?" Shinwoo said after a second in a normal voice, then coughed.

Frankenstein winced. "Be careful not to overwork your lungs: they've been damaged by a poison."

"Those Union guys again?" Shinwoo whispered, opening his eyes. He blinked them several times.

It might be a good thing that Tao wasn't here: he would have started talking to help everyone feel better and that might have been too much for the schoolchildren.

"Yes." Raizel's voice was solemn. "This is the third time we have not been able to keep you from becoming involved."

"Since it didn't work before, can I keep the memories this time?" Shinwoo asked hopefully.

"You're going to have to," Frankenstein said, and sighed. "If you survive this, the Union will consider you a valuable test subject. You can't avoid them if you don't remember what the dangers are."

"If we survive this?" Yuna asked, and started to cough. Frankenstein went over to her quickly, then Suyi and Ikhan.

"Ow," Ikhan said. "Thanks, Chairman. That really hurt."

"Everyone was walking…" Yuna tried to sit up. Seira moved forward and touched her arm, helping her lie back down.

Normally Tao would have explained, but he wasn't in here.

"You've all been poisoned and we were idiots and played their games trying to get an antidote that didn't goddamn work instead of bringing you back here right away," M-21 said, loud and blunt. "The poison really…" he paused at Frankenstein's glare. "Messed you up, and even the Chairman doesn't think he can save you unless you contract with Regis or Seira."

"Contract?" Suyi asked. She was the one who dealt with normal contracts, as an actress.

M-21 looked at Takeo.

Takeo blinked, and looked around the room.

"…I think that you had better explain," Frankenstein told Takeo after doing the same. "Your experience will be the most relevant. My contract with… Rai isn't typical."

"Both of you share part of your souls, only as much as you're both willing to share," Takeo said. "I'm an enhanced human, but I have have some abilities from the contract, and it also enhanced some of the abilities I already had. We share a psychic link – I can locate Miss Seira, and Tao can locate Regis – but the link can be open or closed, it's not very hard to control. Contracts are permanent, but the link fades with distance and Miss Seira and Regis will be going home eventually."

Shinwoo groaned. "I don't wanna graduate…"

Frankenstein cleared his throat pointedly. "While I appreciate that you enjoy Ye Ran that much…"

"What do we have to do to make these contracts?" Yuna wondered.

M-21 started talking again, arms folded, before the rest of them could look around and probably Frankenstein would end up doing it. "They drink a drop of your blood and you agree to the contract. Yes, that technically makes you a vampire; No, you won't have to drink blood or anything. You get superpowers and you can talk to them telepathically. Tao's contracted to Regis and Takeo to Seira."

"You aren't contracted to anyone?" Yuna asked.

"I can't make contracts: when the Union cut me up they stuck in a werewolf heart," M-21 told her.

"Werewolves are real too?" Ikhan said, a little dazed.

"…What happens if you bite someone?" Yuna's voice was very quiet: her throat must be getting worse, poor girl.

"Normally werewolves are born werewolves: they're not a contagious plague like mutants," Frankenstein said, then sighed. "Not like the X-men," he said to head off their questions. "If you decide to make a contract, you'll be making them with a noble directly, so the mutants aren't important right now. You had best decide before too much longer – more mental activity might make you more vulnerable to a poison designed for nobles."

"What's to decide?" Shinwoo wondered. "We don't want to die, right? And we trust you guys."

Takeo met M-21's eyes, but they didn't say anything.

"Where's Tao?" Ikhan asked. "Is he okay?"

"He's in the other room keeping an eye on your vitals," Frankenstein reassured Ikhan. "He'll be fine with some sleep."

"I should go first," Shinwoo said. "Just to be sure it's okay."

Everyone shook their heads. "Your body needs to heal, so you'll fall back asleep almost as soon as you make the contract," Takeo said. "I also made a contract while I was injured."

"Regis and Seira have both been in fights today, and Regis was also poisoned," Frankenstein said. "Regis will only be able to make one contract." When Regis frowned, about to object, the Boss told him that, "This is a poison designed for nobles and contractors. You can't split your resources three ways, Regis, or you might fail to save anyone."

"If Seira cannot manage a third, I will make the contract," said Raizel.

"…Yes," Frankenstein acknowledged. He had a lot of practice not saying Master in front of the students, but Takeo could still hear it.

"Is there a reason we shouldn't make a contract with you?" Suyi asked Rai hesitantly.

"He's sick, and if you make a contract with him then you'll be pulling on his power to heal up," M-21 said again.

"I'll go last," Shinwoo said. "I'm tough, right? So I'll be fine if it takes awhile, and I shouldn't be so much trouble, because I recover fast."

"You have a right to refuse to make a contract," the Chairman told them. "I apologize for rushing you through this, but…" He held his hand to cover his mouth, winced and reached down and touched his stomach. The blood had soaked through the front of his coat again.

"Why aren't _you_ in one of these beds?" Suyi demanded as the other three cried out.

"I'll be fine," he told them, with a trademark reassuring smile. "You three are of sound mind and I feel you're old enough to give consent, but… Later," he told himself, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You have the right to refuse," he reminded them.

"But then we die," Suyi said slowly. She was nervous about this; Takeo could see her fists clenching the sheet tightly.

"We can't just give up and die," Yuna said. "Not after everyone – " her eyes went to M-21."We're alive because your friend, and everyone… I know they just did what they wanted to do, but we want to…" he coughed.

Seira touched her shoulder. "Would I be acceptable?" she asked.

Yuna nodded.

Seira touched the hand that Yuna had covered her mouth with, and Takeo winced to see the blood. Seira touched it with an elegant finger, and Shinwoo made an inarticulate sound as she licked the finger. "We have entered into a contract of the soul," she told Yuna. "Do you consent?"

Yuna's eyes were already clearer, and Takeo would swear there was more color in her cheeks as she nodded. "Yes, Seira," she said, and her voice was normal, the roughness caused by a damaged throat already gone. Then Yuna yawned and from the display on the screen, fell asleep almost immediately.

Seira smoothed Yuna's hair away from her eyes. "Ikhan has the lowest body mass," she said.

Regis straightened. "Am I acceptable?" he asked Ikhan.

Ikhan blinked at him, hand weakly trying to reach for his glasses automatically. "Sure, we're friends…" His eyes widened. "Sorry about saying you might munch on my neck!"

Regis flushed, looking down at Ikhan. "He's not bleeding," he told Frankenstein, a little wide-eyed.

"You're not really going to…" Ikhan stared, blushing too now.

"I can fetch a needle or make a shallow cut," Frankenstein told them.

"I don't like needles," Ikhan said, sounding dazed.

Frankenstein reached for Ikhan's hand, holding it up by the wrist, palm-up. "This won't hurt," he said, tapping Ikhan's thumb with his index finger. They watched a drop of blood bead up.

Regis pulled himself together and wiped it off Ikhan's thumb, rubbing it against his lips and covering his hand with his mouth, trying to be more elegant than licking it with everyone watching. "We have entered into a contract of the soul," he said formally. "Do you consent?"

Ikhan's eyes were a little wild for a moment, but he smiled. "Sure, Regis. Vampires and everything… It's like something out of a manhwa…" His voice trailed off into silence as his eyes closed.

Turning back to Seira, Takeo saw her lean forward to wipe a bloody tear away from Suyi's cheek, careful not to leave it smeared across her face. Her lick was delicate – he barely caught a glimpse of her tongue. "We have entered into a contract of the soul," she said. A delicate frown appeared on her face. " _We have entered into a contract of the soul,"_ Takeo heard, but not with his ears this time.

Horrified, he watched blood trickle down from Suyi's ears.

" _Do you consent_?" Seira asked, and Takeo let out a sigh of relief when Suyi nodded.

Frankenstein said a word in some language Takeo didn't know under his breath, cupping his hands in front of him again.

Seira shook her head at him, going to Shinwoo's side, but Frankenstein kept gathering power as Shinwoo tried to smile up at Seira.

"Death Scythe," she said, straightening.

Shinwoo's eyes widened and he squawked, going into a coughing fit.

Takeo winced: no, Seira's soul weapon wouldn't be very reassuring, no. She must have summoned it for the additional power. " _We have entered into a contract of the soul,"_ Seira said quickly. " _Do you consent_?"

Shinwoo's smile grew broader as his eyes slid shut, and Takeo couldn't be sure, but he might have heard a whisper of a yes.

"Thank goodness," Frankenstein said, dismissing the energy as the blood field vanished. Tao came in a second later looking relieved: he must have seen their vitals improve once the contracts were made. "I should write up something for them, so they can find out what's happened to them once they're awake…"

"Frankenstein," Raizel said. "Rest."

A fraction of a second's pause, but, "Yes, Master."

"Are you alright?" Takeo asked Seira.

"I may be the youngest of the clan leaders, but I can manage this much," Seira said with dignity, dismissing her clan's soul weapon. "Tao, would you take Regis up to his room?"

The younger noble was swaying on his feet a little, but he hurriedly pulled himself together when he saw them watching.

"Yes, Boss!" Tao scooped him up. It said something about how tired Regis was that he tried to copy Raizel and Seira's sigh instead of telling Tao to put him down, or even complaining about how inelegant this all was. "I'll watch over Ikhan for you," Tao promised. "You should go to bed too, Takeo!"

Right, the poison, but Takeo didn't need to look at Seira to know she would be staying here.

"I will watch over them," Raizel promised. "All of you should rest."

Takeo wanted to protest that Raizel was the sickest one here… but everyone else's condition would improve if they rested. A night's sleep wouldn't make any difference for Raizel, so it made sense. As little as Takeo liked it. Takeo smiled at him as Seira and Regis bowed their heads in acknowledgement. "I'll start up the cookie machine and bring you your books and the tea maker. And then I'll go to sleep and make sure Tao doesn't stay up," he added, seeing Raizel start to frown.

Raizel let out a little breath, glad and relieved that Takeo would be resting, and nodded. "Thank you."

Takeo smiled. "You're welcome." It wasn't just nice to be thanked, it was nice to see that even like this, so tired, Raizel was still worrying about all of them, trying to be sure they were alright. Raizel was the oldest person in this house, the way Takeo thought he was the older sibling once upon a time, and all of them, everyone under this roof, were his precious responsibilities.

The way Teira had given Takeo a reason to keep fighting, keep _living_ no matter what, until he found better ones.

* * *

 _The justification for the divergence is that Mark got M-24's noble-sensing power, so he knew that Tao and Takeo were 'vampires' and might be poison resistant, so Kalvin brought a higher-tier poison with him._


	5. Chapter 5

Ikhan wrinkled his nose. Hospital smells? That sucked, but he also smelled tea. And sugar. "Rai?" he asked muzzily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

A cup of tea was pressed into his hands – Rai knew he didn't drink coffee; Ikhan didn't want to stunt his growth.

Drinking the tea automatically, he pried his eyes open. "Thanks, Rai," he said, and as Rai nodded Ikhan looked around and saw Shinwoo, Yuna and Suyi. "I can feel that they're there," he realized. "They all feel the same, but I don't and you don't. Right." They must feel like Seira, and Ikhan had a contract with Regis.

Rai was Rai.

It was _interesting_. He raised his fingers to his mouth, poking a tooth to see if he had fangs. He was disappointed that his canines felt normal, and then an instant later he winced as a now-sharp tooth cut his finger. The scent of blood in the air wasn't compelling or anything, and he could feel the cut disappear before he got a chance to look at his finger. "So we can, but we don't have to? Like Regis said." Even if they weren't the classy vampires like they had in some books.

Rai sighed, definitely asking himself why Ikhan was so obsessed with blood-drinking.

Ikhan looked around the room carefully, just to be sure that no one else was awake and the Chairman wasn't here. He leaned forward and cupped his hand to whisper in Rai's ear, because he absolutely had to warn Rai that, "In a lot of books it's a metaphor for _sex_."

When Ikhan pulled back, he saw Rai nod. Yeah, that did explain it. They _were_ teenagers and everything.

Wait, Ikhan had wanted to do it (do it, his brain screamed at him) with Regis, not Seira, but that was because they were friends, right?

Eyes wide, he tried to adjust his glasses only to find them gone. He blinked at his hand, and up at Rai, then looked past Rai to the room around them. Yeah, he could see… his eyes focused on some text in the other room, past the big window. He could see _better_ than he did with his glasses. "Cool." Was he going to need fake glasses now, like Superman? "Are the Chairman's glasses fake?"

"Some of them are magnifying glasses," Rai said. "Frankenstein will make sure you have whatever you need."

"Frankenstein?" Ikhan wondered as Rai went over to a table that held the coffee machine and pressed the button to fill a cup. He thought he knew that name from somewhere, but nah, couldn't be.

Like his friends couldn't be vampires?

"Coffee," he heard Suyi groan plaintively, reaching out her arms like a blind zombie feeling around for brains.

Her hands reached unerringly for the coffee cup when Rai brought it in range. "Thanks, Rai," she said, with a small blush on her face, before pouring it down her throat and holding the cup out to Rai for a refill.

Then she opened her eyes. "Wait, I don't think I need a second cup." Her brows creased, looking down into the empty cup. What was this sorcery?

"You have entered into a contract of the soul with Seira," Rai reminded her. "You still need sleep, but tiredness will not weaken you."

Suyi stared at him, eyes wide, but no, Rai wouldn't kid about something like that. "If this contract thing heals us, then no more bags under my eyes?"

"No more zits, right?" Great!

"And I won't have to bathe in a tub of blood like Elizabeth Bathory," Suyi said, nodding.

"You will age." Rai looked sad.

"Slower, right?" Suyi said. "No sun damage?" She winced. "Or more sun damage?"

"The sun will not harm you."

"That means we won't get wrinkles, not for a long time at least," Suyi said, smiling. "Sun damage is what makes skin lose its elasticity. No sun damage, no wrinkles," she explained. "That's one of the reasons everyone should wear sunscreen."

It wasn't that important to Ikhan, but Suyi was an idol. Was it okay for her to be on TV when nobles were supposed to stay a secret, he wondered, but didn't say anything because he didn't want to be the one to bring it up and maybe be the reason she had to stop modeling and pursuing acting jobs. "Are Shinwoo and Yuna okay?" he asked instead, turning to his side. "Hey, Shinwoo!" he called.

They heard a groan. "Five more minutes, Ikhan…" Shinwoo's eyes opened and he blinked. "I don't feel dead tired." He blinked again. "Huh."

"I know!" Suyi said. "I don't feel exhausted either."

Oh? Ikhan sat up straight. "Does this mean I won't have to try to drag Shinwoo out of bed anymore?"

"I don't know," Shinwoo said, clenching his fist carefully. He frowned down at it. "I'm definitely stronger. I'm going to have to train just to get used to it, otherwise I'll kick someone's head off."

Ikhan groaned: Shinwoo lost track of time when he was training and didn't get home in time to do his homework without staying up way too late _already_. Now that Shinwoo knew there were bad guys like that after everyone, it didn't matter what this contract thing did, he'd _absolutely_ tire himself out like that. "What about Yuna?"

"She's fine," Shinwoo said. "Hey, Yuna! Ikhan's getting worried."

"What?" Yuna jerked awake, startled. She looked around. "Phew, I thought…"

"No, we're not waking up with the bad guys this time… Where are we, anyway?" Shinwoo asked Rai.

"The Chairman's house," Rai said. "His name is Frankenstein."

"Frankenstein?" They all stared. Ikhan had thought he'd misheard Rai or something, but huh?

"No, not like the book," Rai assured them, sighing. "He fought the Union, so they slandered his good name."

"Oh, is that why vampires and werewolves are bad guys in stories?" Yuna asked. "Because you're fighting them too?"

Rai shook his head, looking… and Ikhan could feel that he was really hurting inside. Like he blamed himself? …Wait, was this… had Ikhan been feeling this before, just not knowing that it was a feeling? Rai really wasn't hard to read: had he been reading Rai's mind or something? "Noble criminals sold contracts to humans, and that was the source of the mutants. The 'zombie' Shinwoo fought was like a mutant. Frankenstein will explain."

"Okay," Yuna said, smiling reassuringly. Rai clearly didn't want to talk about it. Rai stood up and got her a cup of tea. "Thank you, Rai. Oh," she realized. "That's why I don't like orange juice anymore."

Through the big glass panel, they could see Regis, Seira and the Principal come into the lab, with Seira carrying big covered plates of food and Regis pushing a cart with plates and more food on it. Tao and Takeo were behind them: the others headed for the door, but Tao stood in front of the window and waved at them.

Ikhan waved back, smiling, and Tao gave him a thumbs up when he saw that everyone was alright. …Oh?

" _Tao?"_

" _Isn't this cool? We can pass files back and forth too! It's how Regis learned Korean. I stuffed him full of all the programming languages, and I can give you the manuals for the RK gear!_ "

"Really?" Ikhan exclaimed aloud. "That's so cool!"

* * *

Once the Chairman (Dr. Frankenstein, and wasn't that something) gave them all brief check-ups and they had a chance to change (none of them needed freshening up, and Suyi's make-up looked like she'd just applied it), everyone went to the living room.

Someone had lowered the projector screen they watched movies on, and the Chairman was standing by it with a laser pointer, looking a little amused.

Tao, thought Suyi. Definitely Tao.

She sat down, relieved by the return to normalcy, and also that they were getting an explanation.

Takeo handed her a cup of tea as M-21 gave one to Yuna, and now that everyone was settled the Chairman began, "You're technically vampires, but the correct term is 'contractor,' or Bonded. There are three sapient species on this planet: humans, werewolves and nobles. We know humanity's origin, but nothing is known of the origin of nobles or werewolves. Early hominids came to the attention of nobles when they began to develop psychic abilities. Human communities began to cluster around nobles, and hominids and nobles began a long period of co-evolution – Yes, M-21?"

The security guard who had gotten stabbed trying to protect them lowered his hand. "Isn't this more complicated than the explanation you gave me?"

"They're seniors at my high school; they should be able to handle some scientific jargon."

Suyi wasn't the only one who looked at Shinwoo.

"As humans evolved for intelligence, we developed better problem solving skills and other mental toolkits, such as language. While nobles have been in contact with humans for too few generations for significant genetic adaptation to occur, their psychic abilities let them pick our mental adaptations up from us, so their _functional_ level of intelligence has increased dramatically. So, despite nobles not being a human subspecies, and also lacking most of the pressures that have shaped our lives and evolution, the minds of humans and nobles are compatible. Question, Ikhan?"

"There are file transfer protocols!" Ikhan said, almost bouncing on the edge of his seat.

The Chairman grinned. "I'm aware, but no I haven't researched them in depth. That _would_ be something to learn more about, preferably before humans and nobles began to interact again on a larger scale. Care for an extra credit project, Ikhan?"

He grinned, eyes almost sparkling. "Yes, sir!"

The Chairman looked at the rest of them before continuing. "Nobles constantly emit energy fields that can be detected by other nobles at varying ranges. Humans also developed the ability to detect these fields."

Suyi nodded.

"Blood. I'm sure you all know what it is, but for purposes of this discussion it is cells suspended in a constantly moving liquid medium. Some of those cells contain your DNA, others contain a high proportion of iron. Iron that is _moving_ within a bio-electrical field, some of it flowing through our brains, when we do a high percentage of our thinking via electrical impulses.

"If a noble ingests your blood, it will give them access to your body and 'soul,' or personal energy field, allowing them to access your mind. A noble can use this access to do a great many things…" His eyes narrowed for a moment. "But," he rallied, "the important one right now is a Contract, or rather a True Contract.

"Using blood as a medium, a noble can set up an dedicated psychic two-way energy channel, giving you access to many of their abilities and the energy to use them. A contractor gains enhanced strength, enhanced speed, enhanced healing, that noble's signature clan abilities… and the ability to drink blood and use it to gain access to the consciousness of another living being. It works on any animal with iron-based blood and a brain using electrical signals, not just humans, but please don't decide you want a dog, or cat, or snowy owl," Yuna, "as a familiar."

It was a relief to see him smile and mean it, Suyi thought. She got the impression that he'd been just as… maybe not nervous as they were, but feeling that something was wrong. This was good to know, but teaching them was cheering him up too. That was good.

"Shallow or False contracts… play rather fast and loose with consent. A contract is created when both souls desire it, yes, but someone can _not want to die_ , or have their emotions tampered with enough for it to count. All of you… Well, at least you are all friends with Seira and Regis."

Damn, she thought. She'd spoken too soon.

"It's alright," Yuna said.

"Alright? It's great!" Ikhan stared at Yuna.

"I can protect you guys now," Shinwoo said. "And…" Glancing at Seira, he blushed.

Oooh? Suyi filed that away for later. "The Union is an evil organization trying to take over the world that turns humans… that treats humans like disposable robots," she said, remembering Tao. "We're humans who live in this world. This is our problem too. Are we supposed to just sit back and let our fates be at the mercy of other people? That's not what you've taught us, Chairman. The central principle of Ye Ran is free will," she reminded him. "And we all chose this. It was our decision, right guys?"

"Right." Shinwoo nodded, and so did Yuna and Ikhan.

"Tao already told us some things about the Union, but we'll need to learn more. And learn self-defense, too." She frowned, wondering how she was going to fit all this into her schedule.

"I can write up what we learn for you," Ikhan promised her. "If I write it in Lukedonian, then if someone else looks over your shoulder they won't be able to read any of it."

"Lukedonian is a creole of several root languages, the languages modern languages descend from," the Chairman told them. "If you hold a conversation in it, it will sound like it's definitely a real language, but the listener won't be able to pin down what region, or even continent, it's from."

So if they could keep him talking about things that didn't depress him, that seemed to cheer him up. Had vampires, the false contract ones, and the Union attacked… "How old are you?"

He smiled at her. "Let's say over a thousand years and leave it at that. I didn't enter into a contract of the soul with Ma- Cadis Etrama di Raizel until I was over Lukedonia's age of consent, which is 200 for nobles. …He was asleep until very recently."

Rai raised his hand. "Yes…" the Chairman said, awkward and clearly conscious of it.

"I would prefer it if you were to call me Rai," Rai said meaningfully.

"…Yes, Rai," the Chairman said, almost but not quite relieved. "I wouldn't want to set a bad example in front of the children… Are there any more questions I can answer right now? Don't worry, the school will be repaired quickly – you've already missed too many days of instruction this year." He glanced at the three guards when he said it, and Tao practically teleported behind Regis. Regis was sitting down, so he didn't exactly conceal Tao, but Tao didn't have many memories, Suyi remembered. If contracts were of the soul, then what… Right, she could ask. She raised her hand.

"Yes, Suyi?"

"This is a contract of the soul, so what does that mean for us?"

"What do you want it to mean for you?" he asked her. "As much or as little as you like. A contract can be considered a baptism or rebirth: they have also been considered marriages, just like the Christian priesthood in my day was considered married to God-"

"Tao!" Ikhan said, appalled. "You can't start a cult worshipping Rai! You'll embarrass him!"

"What's your contract with Rai like?" Suyi asked for poor Rai's sake. "Since you've had one longer than anyone else?" Tao and Takeo couldn't have had contracts to Regis and Seira back then, they wouldn't have let those two be in that position.

The Chairman looked at Rai, who sighed and nodded.

"You shouldn't follow my example," the Chairman told them seriously. "Humans are not inferior to nobles, and Seira and Regis would not appreciate it. But…" He turned away from them and lowered himself to one knee in front of Rai, holding his hand over his heart. "My Lord," he said, blond hair falling in front of his face as he bowed his head. His white coat looked for a moment like a cape, like… Not a scientist's labcoat but the raiment of a knight in shining armor, as Rai extended his hand and the Chairman kissed his ring, eyes closed, every slow movement full of devotion.

The Chairman stood slowly, his eyes gazing up at Rai's, and it was only when he was fully upright that he seemed to come back to himself and coughed, embarrassed. "Well… I owe him much more than my life, you see…"

"You owe me nothing," Rai corrected him gently. "I did not do it so that you would owe me. I simply did what I wanted to do."

The Chairman smiled, and _wow_ was he gorgeous. So much for the whole monster thing, but even compared to Rai, he was pretty, although if Rai smiled like _that_ … That was something she wanted to see.

But Rai was _sick,_ they'd said, and everyone was in danger from people who'd treated Tao like he was a cellphone with planned obsolescence. Like the companies that worked idols until they dropped, but worse, because they just didn't care if their idols wore out; the people who controlled Tao _wanted_ him to die.

This was the second time Suyi was in danger. The first time, she remembered looking out from behind Yuna, and _Ajussi_ , and Regis and… She'd seen invincible Shinwoo bleed: next time it could be Rai on the floor like that. Tao, Ikhan, everyone.

"What can we do?" she asked. "And don't you dare say that we should try to stay safe, or think of ourselves first."

"As the chairman of your school, it's my responsibility to keep you out of trouble."

"They are in trouble, Frankenstein. It is a teacher's responsibility to prepare their students for the real world," Rai said.

The chairman hesitated, frowning briefly, but then he smiled ruefully and bowed his head, right hand over his heart. "Yes, Ma-My Lord."

* * *

 _Interestingly enough, according to wikipedia 'My Lord' is the British equivalent of 'Your Honor,' used to address a judge._


	6. Chapter 6

_So I ended up writing this chapter. Whether or not there'll be more depends on future webtoon events or if the bunnies ambush me._

* * *

The house was out of guest rooms (well, there was the lab, but Ajussi and the others didn't want them sleeping there), so Ikhan and Shinwoo were taking the sitting room. "Do you think it's strange?" Ikhan asked Shinwoo as he lay there on the couch that was made up as a bed – sometimes being short… _not being tall yet_ had its advantages. "That nobody's upset, or weirded out?"

"We knew all of this already," Shinwoo said, sitting down and stretching. "Remember? Tao explained, well, the important stuff." Union evil, nobles kind of vampires but not evil. "It's actually a relief. I was starting to get… you know, paranoid."

"Yeah, you nearly got arrested because someone thought you were stalking Suyi."

"Thank goodness for your uncle," Shinwoo said, shuddering. "I don't know _what_ my Dad would do if he found out I was getting hauled in by the cops again. He might transfer me to a military academy or something."

Thank goodness they'd called the Chairman instead of Shinwoo's dad when they thought Shinwoo was breaking into the Chairman's house. "That would suck." Not just for Ikhan losing his friend, but _Shinwoo_ having to get up at the crack of dawn, and who knew what else? And if there was hazing? Shinwoo didn't put up with bullies.

"I'd go crazy," Shinwoo agreed. "How am I supposed to look after you from another city or who knows _where_ he'd send me? We didn't remember, but I knew you guys were in danger and I couldn't figure out what and it was driving me _up the wall."_ He clenched his fists, then let out a breath and relaxed them."I kept getting so wound up I had to train even more to burn off the energy."

How was this a relief to Shinwoo? Ikhan wondered. He could grow fangs, and the Union was something out of cyberpunk, forget manhwa! There could be agents around any corner, with weird powers! But Tao had his camera net, that was something, and they could sense things now.

At least now they knew what to look for, and they had more ways to look. "Yeah," he said, taking off his glasses. "I guess this is less scary."

"You'll know if anything happens to Regis and Tao; I'll know if anything happens to Seira, Yuna and Suyi; and Rai…" Shinwoo frowned, ticking people off on his fingers. "Might not know if anything happens to the Chairman. Rai's _sick_ , there's no way he'd want Rai to come bail him out."

"Right," Ikhan realized. He could tell that Regis and Tao were fine now, and that was good. "There's Ajussi, but Tao's keeping an eye on him. And everybody else." And he could talk to them too. Oh, right. " _Regis?"_

" _Yes, Ikhan?"_ He could practically see Regis' concerned expression.

" _I'm fine_ ," he assured him, " _but I think we should run an errand after school tomorrow. It'll help with Tao, I think_."

" _I would appreciate your assistance,"_ was the formal reply, but he could feel that Regis _really_ appreciated it.

Tao was really cool and Ikhan liked him a lot, but he also kind of worried about him. Now he knew why though, so he might be able to help? He could try anyway, when before he had no idea.

If being a vampire meant being more like Tao, Tao was really cool! Regis was his friend, too, so even though he was scared (or maybe the word was shocked) when he found out Regis was sort of like a vampire, he could only worry now in a theoretical way.

This _could_ be really bad. He knew that the contract meant Regis could mind control him, so Regis _could_ be making him think that of course Regis would never.

Except Shinwoo was right. "The Chairman didn't want us to remember so the Union wouldn't think that we knew anything, but we weren't as shocked as we should have been by DA-5. That could have given us away to the Union, and the Chairman's smart, he'd know that. Either he made a mistake," and how likely was that, "or he couldn't seal everything away." He'd need to look up all the ways the brain stored information, especially information on emotions? And major threats, that might rate its own category? In the morning, though.

"I was thinking about that, because of Ajussi." Shinwoo stretched. "Yeah, he put Yuna in danger, but he was a punk. I know punks."

"You _are_ a punk," Ikhan muttered, and got a pillow thrown at his head for his trouble.

"If messing with our memories didn't make us forget friends and enemies, then why weren't any of us keeping an eye on Ajussi? But there's no way the Chairman would have made us trust him after he put us in danger."

"Ajussi's friend," Ikhan said sadly. Even worse than if Shinwoo died, he couldn't imagine it.

"I had to remember that," Shinwoo said, looking up at the ceiling. "I had to get stronger, after that. Not letting anyone else die because I was too weak to protect you guys. _And_ Rai's sick and he had to save us twice."

Rai, who sat there and stared at soggy noodles. Ikhan let out a sigh of relief. "Rai's a mind-reader, so there's no way. This can't be messing with our emotions; the Chairman wouldn't let it."

"Huh?" Shinwoo wondered, turning over to look at him.

"If we only trusted Regis and Seira with this because something was _making_ us trust them, then what's Rai going to think? Remember when we begged him to save Tao and Ajussi?"

That took Shinwoo a minute. "No…?" So they _hadn't_ gotten everything back?

Oh, right. "You were unconscious. But Rai's really sensitive! If someone was messing with our emotions, he'd think we didn't really like him, and there's no way the Chairman would let that happen."

"Ow, yeah." Shinwoo shuddered. "What's Rai doing fighting? He can't even handle video games. I have to get strong enough that I can tell him to knock it off." He yawned. "Can I have my pillow back?"

"No way! You threw it at me, it's mine now."

"Then I'll take yours!" Shinwoo lunged forward across the coffee table to snatch it out from under Ikhan's head.

Ikhan grabbed it. "Oh no you don't –" He pulled it back, away from Shinwoo, and heard the sound of tearing cloth. The pillow exploded, scattering white feathers everywhere.

"Who makes pillows with feathers anymore?" Shinwoo wondered, standing up. "Don't worry, it's my fault, so I'll go look for another pillow."

Yeah, it definitely was Shinwoo's fault, so he was the one who could clean it up in the morning.

* * *

Yuna and Suyi were sleeping over with Seira tonight, so M-21 and Takeo had brought up cots and put them in Seira's room, along with sheets, pillows, _everything_ before going to bed themselves. Yuna really wondered just how much stuff the Chairman had under his house. The sheets didn't seem old, exactly, but they smelled like cedar.

"Hey, Yuna," Suyi said.

"Yes?"

"When the Chairman said we were going to have to forget what happened, he said that something happened to you guys that I missed?" Suyi asked her, and Yuna could also feel Seira's curiosity.

"Ajussi's friend died," she said. "Protecting us." Yuna had wanted to look after him: she'd remembered that, even without knowing what happened. He'd seemed so horribly alone, and she hadn't wanted M-24's friend to be alone. Not after he saved everyone.

That was why she'd forgiven Ajussi, even though Yuna had thought that she'd never forgive anyone for hurting Shinwoo.

"We should ask Ajussi," she told them. "We didn't really understand what was going on, and when we woke up, we didn't remember anything."

Seira nodded, as though that was to be expected.

"Since clearly I was in danger from the Union _anyway_ , I would have liked to remember," Suyi said, annoyed. She folded her arms. "Not right now, not when he's upset, but I want to get back at the Chairman for that."

"There is a club," Seira told them. "For those who wish to punch the houseowner in the face, just once. They have masks and numbers."

"Don't think you're off the hook," Suyi told her, giving Seira an affronted look. "If he hadn't, you would have done it."

Seira nodded. "Regis and I are allowed in the human world by authority of the Lord. Regis is still a child, but if he doesn't learn to follow the regulations, it will reflect badly on him when he is an adult."

"Is that why you said you were Regis' chaperone?" Suyi asked.

Seira nodded. "Regis is interning: he cannot join the Central Order Knights as his parent did until he reaches his majority. I am his advisor and adult supervision."

"So if he didn't wipe our memories, and you didn't, it would have gotten both of you in trouble." Yuna could understand Seira not wanting Regis to get in trouble, and all of them really had thought this was the best way to protect everyone.

That got another nod from the noble.

"How are you related?" Yuna asked her. "If you don't mind me asking," she added quickly. They'd said they weren't, but they really acted like family, so was it something they couldn't tell the others because they were nobles?

"We are not related," Seira told her. "But our parents were very young when they made us, so they decided to assist each other with parenting. I believe it was Rousare's – Regis' parent's – idea, from observing the humans."

"So he's your step-brother?" Suyi asked.

That made Seira blink her red eyes. They weren't scary at all, just really pretty. "If he was adopted into Clan Loyard, then he could not be the heir of Clan Landegre."

"So not legally, but he's like a little brother to you." Suyi frowned when she saw Seira's expression.

Seira sighed and told them that, "Regis would not appreciate being compared to Rael."

"Rael?"

Seira sighed again. "He is the only 'younger brother' we know. He proposed to me as soon as I became legal, and after I was forced to make it clear several times that he was not my type, he threw a tantrum and had to be placed in confinement."

"I wouldn't want to be compared to him either," Suyi said, nodding. "Ugh, I remember when I had creeps talking about what they'd do as soon as I was legal." She leaned forward. "How hard would it be to beat up that guy?"

Yuna stared at her.

"We need to start thinking about it!" Suyi said in her defense.

"Rael has inherited a soul weapon." Seira shook her head disapprovingly. "My teacher may have been correct in his assessment of the previous leader of the Kertia Clan." She looked at the wall behind Seira. "Rael carried you here after you were poisoned, and Sir Rajak assisted us against the Union Elders. The houseowner offered them shelter while they recovered as thanks – it is not safe to leave or return to Lukedonia while injured, the Union has set up ambushes near our borders in the past."

Yuna looked around and asked quietly, "So he could hear us talking about him?"

"I am more concerned about Sir Rajak's feelings. He was a friend of my parent's, and Regis' as well. Rajak must be happy that Rael helped Regis and the other children in their battle against the Union, and then tried to save the lives of humans by carrying you here."

"So Rajak's gotten his hopes up that his brother's grown up a bit and you don't want to crush them," Suyi summed up.

Seira nodded.

Yuna wanted to ask if she was related to Rai, but probably not. Oh, "Does Rai have any family?"

Seira looked thoughtful. "I do not believe so. If he had a clan, the Lord would have reinstated them when he returned."

"Reinstated?"

"A clan is not a clan without a clan leader to speak for it before the Lord and ensure the clan upholds the honor of the nobles. While I live, Clan Loyard is still a clan, despite only having two members. While Lagus Tradio lives, the family of Claudia Tradio is not a clan, despite having dozens of members." She frowned. "I would have to ask Sir Gejutel if the Lord was considered part of the clan of the Previous Lord before she ascended as Lord."

"When he introduced himself to our class, Rai said that all of his name was both his personal name and his family name," Yuna remembered. Did that mean he didn't have a clan name like Loyard, because he didn't have a clan?

Seira looked thoughtful. "The Lord's name is similar to his. Perhaps the houseowner will know. We will have to ask him about how you could defeat Rael when he behaves inelegantly again. Takeo has gained several new powers from our contract, but the houseowner asked him not to draw on it for power, so I do not know how much power it can give you."

"Why didn't he want him to use it?" Suyi wondered.

"The houseowner is still stabilizing Takeo. He was concerned that my power could interfere with that process in unexpected ways."

Oh, that made sense. Yuna nodded. "We're not enhanced humans. Maybe if we use that power, he can see if it's safe for Takeo? Or maybe not," she realized, "if he's still worried after having a contract for so long."

Seira looked thoughtful. "The houseowner would not use Rai's power lightly. The use of that power could harm him, or Rai. Perhaps that is why he is so concerned, even if my power does not compare to the Noblesse's."

"Rai's power is harmful?" Did it hurt him to use it? "Is that why he's sick?" Because he used it when he fought Jake, and then DA-5 to save them?

Seira nodded. "The Noblesse's soul weapon is his own blood and noble soul. When he uses them, he uses them up. The Chairman does not think he has much strength left."

"Seriously?" Suyi demanded, pale, as Yuna stared in open-mouthed horror.

Then saving them from Jake, and saving Tao, and… for their sake, Rai… And she'd let them make her forget what Rai did for them! Even that it happened, so she didn't even have a chance to make sure it didn't happen again? "Poor Rai…" They had to do something!

* * *

It wasn't exactly rare for Suyi to have to get up and shower and put on make-up when the sun wasn't even out yet. But today, she wasn't awake this early because there was a photo shoot or audition or interview or anything else she had to get ready for.

Was this what it was like to be a morning person? Did they get to wake up feeling refreshed every day?

Suyi wouldn't have thought that getting turned into sort of a vampire would make someone a morning person, but apparently.

Idly she wondered if all morning people were vampires as she walked – not stumbled, walked – down the stairs, stretching. She was going in search of coffee, that was normal, but she didn't really need coffee? She just felt like having a cup. And not even because of the caffeine addiction she had to break every time she got a few days off, because the coffee didn't work as well if her body got habituated to it.

Automatically she went to hit the light switch, but she didn't need it. Well, that was good, that way she didn't have to wake up Shinwoo and Ikhan.

Seeing a note on the coffeemaker, she frowned, picking it up to get a closer look at it. Who wrote it? Tao, probably. It wasn't like the chairman's coffeemaker was hard to figure out, but the two nobles who came from Lukedonia might not have seen one like this before. Maybe Master was how you addressed a clan leader?

Suyi shrugged and put the note back, intending to ask Seira about it later. Picking up her coffee, she heard someone coming down the stairs and turned around to see a gawky blond staring at her. She could sort of sense that he was one of the two nobles in the house she hadn't met, but she had no idea if this was the one Seira liked or the creepy one, so she just raised her eyebrows. She didn't want to say, 'Good morning,' when Shinwoo and Ikhan were sleeping in the next room, so she ventured a wave when he still didn't say anything. Maybe he wasn't sure how to address her or something?

Regis and Seira cared a lot about what the proper thing to do was, but when they weren't sure Seira would often remain quiet while Regis tried to bluff with 'I know what I'm doing,' or 'whatever I'm doing is obviously the elegant thing because it's me doing it.' Maybe this one was shy, or still recovering from the fight last night?

Or maybe not all nobles were morning people, who knew. As the awkward silence continued she thought she saw his cheeks darken a little, embarrassed. Before she could point him at the coffee machine he just vanished.

What was that all about?

* * *

After Ikhan was woken up by the Chairman's reaction to the feathers, the Chairman forced a smile on his face and said he wanted to look them over and make sure they wouldn't accidentally pull on Seira or Regis' power and break things ( _more_ things: Ikhan felt really guilty about the feathers, he should have picked them up while Shinwoo was looking for a pillow even if they were supposed to go right to sleep). He said they could go home and get whatever they needed before they came back to the house after school, so Ikhan didn't think stopping at a store with Regis should be a problem. Ikhan had looked up the optimal store and gotten directions before class got out, so this shouldn't take long.

"So you think that Tao had a clan, or family… before?" Ikhan asked, digging through the bin.

"I was young, but I remember that it was… difficult, to go from a house that was full to one that was not. If he went from a house that was full to one that was _noisy_ , because no one there had the slightest bit of consideration for other people?" Regis scowled. "Seira said that Takeo had no family, if we believe Dr. Aris. Takeo wanted a family, but Tao may know what he is missing without a clan."

"Huh," Ikhan said thoughtfully. "That something that might help to narrow down who Tao used to be."

"He said that Dr. Aris changed his appearance as well as his genes, and he does not have his original mitochondrial DNA. But M-21 is already searching for the names of his comrades, and Tao and Takeo are comrades." So M-21 would find Tao's name, _surely_ , and of course Regis and the others would help. That wasn't the issue. Regis stared at the one he'd just pulled out of the bin, holding it out for Ikhan's examination. "This one seems to have electronic implants?"

"No," Ikhan said firmly when he saw the monstrosity Regis was holding up. "Tao can build his own 'electronic implants' if he wants them."

Regis was staring at the thing and definitely seemed to agree with Ikhan that it was a monstrosity, but he thought the whole thing was probably absurd but what did he know about humans? "Tao could build the entire thing from scratch, I'm sure. He shouldn't have to rewire a gift to make it appropriate." Dubiously, he pushed the big red button.

Ikhan winced and covered his ears as Regis looked around, utterly _mortified_ that he'd set off this noise. He looked at Ikhan for help, holding the thing as far away from him as possible.

"Don't worry, it'll stop soon." And the store had to be used to this kind of thing happening, so Regis shouldn't feel too embarrassed, although Ikhan knew how Regis felt about making noise.

Regis set it down carefully like a bomb that might go off a second time if jostled wrong.

As the cashier rang up their purchases, Ikhan wondered if there was some way to get them gift-wrapped before they left the store, or _something_. Someone his height shouldn't walk through town carrying things like this, especially when they were bigger than usual so he'd look even smaller! "Do you have any big paper bags?" he asked hopefully. "Or opaque plastic bags?"

"We offer gift-wrapping services, but there's an extra charge and it'll take some time."

"Please," Ikhan said, relieved.

* * *

"These are for you," Ikhan said, holding out his parcel.

"Ooh, what did you bring me?" Tao asked, hovering over the parcel and looking up at Ikhan for permission before snatching it and ripping through the paper.

Regis' horrified eyes followed the scraps of paper as they flew through the air, some towards the entranceway and some… towards… the seating area, where Raizel's cup of tea… His instincts screamed at him to grab them, but Regis was also carrying a parcel and he couldn't just drop a gift on the ground!

Thankfully, he wasn't the only one who saw the threat: as Tao exclaimed over his present Takeo vaulted over the peninsula separating the kitchen from the seating area and lunged for the paper, apron flaring out as he rolled, landing on the couch as Tao snatched the second parcel from Regis' frozen hands.

Lightning-quick, Takeo grabbed all the pieces of paper thrown his way out of the air as M-21 snapped out of his own frozen horror at the sight of Tao's insanity and ran to gather up the paper that littered the entryway.

"It's the color of your hair!" the enhanced human exclaimed, putting the bear that was in the first parcel on Ikhan's head and cuddling Regis' gift now. "If the horse had little black marks it'd be perfect!"

Ikhan's head was whipping around, looking back and forth from M-21 and Takeo, and he had to hurry to grab the bear to keep it from falling off. Why did he look confused? He'd seen enhanced speed before – even noble speed, when Regis fought Krans.

"Tao, you…" The frustrated growl came from Takeo. Takeo was very patient with Tao, but that scrap had nearly landed in Sir Raizel's tea!

Tao blinked at him, looking as confused as Ikhan.

"What are those?" M-21 wondered.

"Stuffed animals," Takeo said, staring at them. He wasn't angry anymore, but Regis could still hear his heart beating faster than usual – he hadn't quite recovered from the near-catastrophe yet. "They're presents for children and younger siblings." After a moment of silence, he said, "I never bought one for Teira: there was always something else when I was in a position to get her something, and I could only conceal so much volume."

"They squish down, look!" Tao said, holding out the horse to Takeo and compressing its middle in a way that would kill a real horse. "I can bring them to work and put them on my desk."

"As though the rest of the security department doesn't already think we're totally unprofessional." M-21 leaned forward and shook one of the larger scraps of wrapping paper in Tao's face. Tao paled.

"You can carry them," Regis told him. Obviously he couldn't let Tao carry him around in those cables of his, it was inelegant, but according to Ikhan, humans gave these stuffed animals to children who needed something to cuddle. It was true that Tao was much happier when…

Tao's arms wrapped around Ikhan and Regis, squishing them together.

When he did that. Regis waited hopefully, and when Tao pulled back a little he could see the stuffed animals on Tao's shoulders, secured by his cables. Good, they seemed to be acceptable.

"You guys are the best!" Tao declared, squishing them together again. "You guys, and Takeo, and M-21!" Regis found himself pressed between Ikhan and Takeo as Tao roped in his comrades.

"You made me drop some of the paper! Let go of me so I can pick it up before –" M-21 froze when he saw Frankenstein; when they saw him freeze, everyone else became aware that the houseowner's aura was _right there_. Before, he had concealed the noble energy within him, but since Tao and Takeo had contracted he sometimes made it possible for them to sense him. Tao and Takeo liked knowing where he was.

So did Regis, for that matter, but he didn't like knowing that Frankenstein was in this room with them, looking at the mess from the wrapping paper. That Regis and Ikhan had brought into his home.

Regis wasn't the only one to rush to say, "I'll clean it up."

* * *

 _Suffer hilariously, Rael._

 _All these long-haired people with calm noble auras... And then of course there's Rai._

 _Tao's already made the masks, and he's got suits down as of recent chapters, but in this 'verse he's definitely making more plushies. He needs a purple snake and silver wolf because he can't let Takeo and M-21 feel left out, and Frankenstein is definitely a lion, although Frankenstein would probably need to conceal that he's unhappy about being represented by a male lion since, well… Male lions aren't likely to adopt cubs, let's just put it that way._


End file.
